Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presented Denimatrix, Cisco and Mars, Inc. with the Secretary of State’s 2010 Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) today. The ACE is given annually to U.S. businesses that exhibit good corporate citizenship, promote innovation, and advance democratic principles around the world.

This year’s small-to-medium-size enterprise winner is Denimatrix, for the company’s accomplishments in Guatemala. The textile and apparel company was chosen for reducing the environmental impact stemming from its production process, and reaching out to the community to help disadvantaged youth and the homeless.

This year’s winners in the multinational category are Cisco, for its programs in Israel, and Mars, Inc., for its work in Ghana. Cisco, the computer networking company, was chosen for helping to connect the Israeli and Palestinian economies and people, and engaging in several partnerships and initiatives to enhance technical capacity, connectivity, education, and opportunities for women and youth in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. Mars, the confectionary manufacturer, was selected for improving farming methods, sensitizing communities against child labor, and promoting the overall well-being and sustainability of cocoa growing communities.

The three winners were chosen from 12 finalists. The other finalists were Alta Ventures in Mexico, Coca-Cola in Swaziland, Fiji Water in Fiji, GE in India, Intel in Costa Rica, PepsiCo in India, Qualcomm in China, Synopsys in Armenia, and Tang Energy in China.

Since 1999, the Secretary of State has conferred the ACE on U.S. businesses that meet social needs in diverse communities through activities in every region of the world. The Department of State is committed to working with the business community to further their best practices worldwide and to encourage efforts that improve lives at home and abroad. For more information, please visit: http://www.state.gov/e/eb/ace/.